Private Awake

[Shimrra Rin]

"When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change."
Music​

How long had she been here, trapped in this never-ending nightmare?

She looked up at her master, standing closely behind him. This man was a shining light in the Force, a man of solid conviction and unquestionably loyalty, but what she'd seen him do over the last year was unsettling and the obsession he'd had for this case even more so. This wasn't a mission from the Council or even a favor for a friend. This had started simply because he had felt something sinister at play.

Something felt different about this time though, as she watched the scene unfold, step by agonizing step. When she'd first had the dreams she'd tried to stop them, thinking this was some aspect of Flow Walking. It became clear that this was simply a prison of her own making.

"I will be at your back."

Closing his eyes, Lanik exhaled, his will reaching into the inner mechanisms of the door and slamming them open. The shriek of metal filled the halls as the door was jammed open. When Lanik’s eyes opened the two sapphire orbs took in the office of Kaito. A man that wore his Atrisian heritage on their shoulder.

“Stay behind me, and if anything goes wrong you need to run.”

She pinched her eyes shut, watching the pair enter the room.

“Senator Kaito, you are under arrest for treason against the Galactic Alliance.”

His voice was confident but angry. Even now so many years later she could feel the hate on his lips. Her ghost floated before her old Master and she placed a tender hand to his cheek and looked up into his eyes, rage filling his, sorrow filling hers.

"Jedi Knight Dawnstar," he started, his voice calm and smooth, "What is the meaning of this?"

“I know what you did to the Desert Dawn, I know who you are Maou! You reign of tyranny is over. Come peacefully and this need go no further than this...And you collude with the Sith. Shimrra run! Get to the Jedi temple!”

"Now you've gone too far Jedi Knight Lanik!"

She felt the electricity arc up her body and screamed as she watched the battle unfold. She watched as her past self, so young and foolish, attempted to stand her ground, disobeying her Master's orders only to be caught in the Sith's grasp. She could feel her blood begin to bubble. The rest happened in a flash. Lanik had the Sith on the defensive, in a last-ditch effort to make a difference she threw her lightsaber, the yellow blade piercing the pretender's chest...And then the sensation of falling, the rain splattering her face. She should have died when she landed with a sickening crunch.

Normally at this point, there would be nothing but the void, the nightmare threatening to start at any moment. But this time the vision continued, she watched as Lanik beat down the Sith with his bare fist, watched as Yun-Amon, her pet amphistaff hissed the venom that would disfigure Kaito's face. Watched the ultimate betrayal as Bernard plunged his blade into her Master's back. Watched as the life left Lanik's eyes. Watched as Kaito tossed the dying Jedi to his doom.

The void returned, engulfing her and leaving her with these new feelings. She didn't know how long she was there, kneeling in the dark, the events of the battle replaying over and over in her head. She wanted to reach out and kill Bernard for what he had done, wanted to tear Kaito apart, she wanted to destroy the Republic-

"You know that isn't the way," Came a familiar voice. From the darkness, a pinprick of light began to glow. "I am gone now, and much has changed." She saw images of the funeral pyre, the new Galactic Alliance, the war with the Sith, flashes of Kaito in the modern day.

"They need you," came the voice again. "It is time for you to wake up."

"But...I have no master. You're gone and...And I won't know what to do," she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Lanik laughed from his pinprick of light and flashed, forming a full body. She'd forgotten how tall he was, even though she had grown herself. He activated his lightsaber and smiled warmly at her.

"Silly girl, what do you think I've been doing this whole time? You think you've been watching this scene play out and learned nothing?" He tsked at her and smiled again.

"Shimrra Rin. By the Right of the Master, by the Will of the Force, I name thee Jedi Knight," He swung his blade with an efficiency most Jedi alive today would envy. She smelled burning hair and looked down at her feet to see her padawan braid laid across her boots. She looked up to Lanik, surprise in her eyes.

"Protector of the Light." His brilliance became so powerful then that she had to shield her eyes. The void receded leaving only pure white. It took her a few moments to realize the pure white was the white of her hospital bed. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew she was somewhere in the new Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Smells came second, and then hearing. She tried to blink away the spots but even opening and closing her eyes felt a labor. She felt someone else in the room and craned her neck slowly to see Bernard of Arca at her side.

"You..." she managed to hiss from between thin, chapped lips.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

It was past midnight in the part of Coruscant that boasted the senatorial quarters. The Marshal's local HQ stood a dark tower against the cloudy backdrop of a rainstorm, illuminated by a sharp white line alongside its south-western edge. Most windows were dark. Only a handful of Marshals were in, serving operator duty or pulling double-overtime. Late-night shifts saw, at most, a skeleton crew occupy the offices. The floors, otherwise buzzing with holophone rings and holokey typing, were uncharacteristically quiet. Lights were dimmed in the office. Long shadows drew over carpets and desks, cast by the light of bright skycutters across the street.

There was an intimacy that pervaded the atmosphere. The space, though wide and open, maintained an air of privacy. Bernard felt strangely isolated as he sat in Pech's office. He could see Sarn and Linis tapping away at their files in their lone, lit-up cubicles across the room, but they seemed intangible. Trapped on islands far, far away by a deep sea.


Files slammed onto a tabletop. Bernard startled and turned towards the sound. Pech had finally taken his seat. A deep frown sat on his face as he removed his glasses, folded them, almost meticulously, and placed them next to the files. He folded his hands on the table.

"Bernard," Pech started, "you're a mess."

The Arkanian hadn't slept in several days. Dark, baggy circles painted the undersides of wide eyes that soaked up their surroundings with frantic desperation. His hair was damp and hung in loose clumps that clung to his face. Mud had dried along the side of his uniform and in splatters over the rest of it. He was holding down one hand with the other, unsuccessfully concealing a tremor. One of his feet was tapping away at the floor.

Pech's expression lightened. He looked at his deputy with a hint of compassion, though he never lost his stern edge.

"I know what happened. Senator Kaito confirmed what we suspected, and the holocams back it up. You did the right thing. You aren't guilty," Pech said.

The words made Bernard wince slightly.

Pech sighed. He opened one of the drawers on his desk and removed a holoform from it. His eyes scanned it briefly, then he signed it.

"I don't know what has you so shaken, but I can't have you on the force in this state. Try to get some rest, you're on leave for the next two weeks. That's an order," Pech slid the holoform to Bernard, on the other side of the table.

"The ... the other one ... the apprentice ... I want to be the one to tell her," Bernard's voice was shaky and barely above a whisper.

"We can have another deputy do it. I don't think it's wise for you to-"

"Please." The Arkanian's eyes locked with Pech's for the first time since he'd been called to his office ten minutes ago.

Silence settled between them as Pech regarded Bernard. The Marshal Director had frozen mid-sentence, hand gesturing and all. Bernard couldn't remember the last time he'd sensed a semblance of resignation in the man.

---

It wasn't clear to Bernard why he still came to the bedside of Lanik's Padawan. She'd been out long enough for the Healers to fear all hope was lost. Still, he made it a point to visit every other week, greeted by the same news each time. Shimrra Rin remained unconscious and in recovery after a nigh-fatal drop from the Senate building. That was what the Healers had been told at least.

Bernard sat cross-legged on a chair next to the entrance, engulfed in a holobook. He didn't wear his uniform, or the Jedi robes of a Padawan. He'd forsaken the latter and felt it inappropriate to appear in the former. He wore ordinary civilian clothes, though ordinary was far from how he felt in them.

"You ..."

The sudden noise, though quiet, startled him. He looked around, unsure at first who'd spoken the word. The door remained closed, the windows locked, and the lack of an ethereal echo indicated no Force technique either. That meant ... his heart dropped.

"Padawan Rin ... you're awake. That's ... There's something you should know,"

His mind began to spin. After all this time, he'd never thought about what he'd say now.

Shimrra Rin ​

 

[Shimrra Rin]

Shimrra slammed her fist as hard as she could against the bed causing the plasteel to rattle.

"You killed him," she hissed. Before she could say another word a Jedi Master entered the room with two medical droids.

"Thank the Force she finally woke up!" The Yuuzhan Vong woman turned her gaze to the Master, back to Bernard and she frowned.

"They don't know," she said before she drifted back into unconsciousness. The Jedi Master folded her arms and looked to Bernard quizzically before shrugging.

"Don't worry Bernard, she'll be fine. Now that she's awake she just needs a quick bath in the Bacta. Come back in a few hours, she'll be ready for visitors then."

Bernard of Arca
​

A cool breeze blew in from her window. It was already night again, her first full day of being awake. Her lightsaber sat on a table on the other side of the room along with standard brown Jedi robes - she'd outgrown her old robes over the last 5 years of being trapped in her coma. Yun-Amon had grown as well and was coiled around her open hand, the rest of its now three-meter length draped over the side of the hospital bed. Shimrra ran a hand through her excessively long hair. She needed to cut it. Even her Padawan braid was long and unruly. Someone had tried their best to keep the hair braided but it just ended up a thick, twisted mess.

Coruscant by contrast hadn't changed at all. Sure, a new Chancellor was in office, the Jedi had fought and were fighting a new war against the Sith, but when were the Jedi not fighting back the tide of darkness? To her, the biggest change was that her Master was gone forever. She had snapped at Bernard earlier but none of this had been his fault. She sighed, her fingers drifting through her raven black hair.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

Bernard sat stunned and wide-eyed. He fell back in his chair, overwhelmed and dropped his head back against the wall. He took a deep breath. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

He pushed out of the chair and made for the door.

"That's ... good. I will, Master. Thank you," he said, lingering at the door to watch the healers prepare for their work. What was he going to do now?

The master noticed him still at the door. He nodded and gave a reassuring smile. It did little to lift Bernard's spirits, but he took the cue to leave.

---

An artificial wind moved blades of grass in the med centre's garden. Flowers surrounded the green and swayed ever so slightly while leaves rustled above. Bernard sat at the grass patch's centre, exhausted. A ring of trampled grass was easily recognizable around him. His legs felt sore and his feet ached, but there was peace in his mind. The flood of thoughts had come and gone. What remained was a breeze of sensation that anchored him in the present. All his worries had gone, all troubles buried by a practiced mindful awareness.

The comm-link on his wrist chimed softly. The visiting hour had crept up on him sooner than he'd expected, but he didn't let that ruin this moment. He breathed in deeply, and exhaled, cherishing the last few moments of tranquillity.

---

He knocked on the door of the room Shimrra was stationed in, hesitated a moment, and tapped the button to open it. The doors opened with a quiet hiss of air and he stepped into the room. Apprehension spiked the moment he set his foot on the floor of the med room. The intensity of her glare had lingered and haunted him almost the entire time since.

"Padawan Rin. You're already acquainted with me, then?" He asked.

It wasn't uncommon for Jedi to have visions in dream. Bernard guessed that, in those five years, Shimrra likely had quite a few, the way he knew the Force's curious back-and-forth with a Jedi's spirit. She'd witnessed the death of her master, that much was certain, but what else had she witnessed in throughout those years?[div]

Shimrra Rin

 

[Shimrra Rin]

Her fingers flinched at the sound of Bernard's voice. She'd had time to come to terms with her master's passing and her final words to her through the Force, but her body still reacted to the young man's presence. Even Amon coiled up on her bed, ready to strike, his hood expanding out in a threatening gesture. She muttered something in her native tongue and the living weapon relaxed. She let the silence build for a few moments more, her gaze still focused on Coruscant's skyline.

"I am, Bernard," she said softly. She turned to face him now and smiled kindly. "I'm sorry for what I said when I woke up. It is not...easy waking up after..." she let the sentence trail off. It still hadn't fully sunk in that she'd been trapped in that nightmare for over half a decade. So much time had gone past. The Alliance had changed so much.

"I trust you're well. I hear I have you to thank for keeping my hair from getting out of control." She didn't mention that he had made her padawan braid too thick. He had done his best. Her braid was resting on the table beside her.

Bernard of Arca

 

[Bernard of Arca]

"It was ... don't mention it," he cursed the healer who'd told on him.

"And it's fine, earlier. I should be the one apologizing to you. I can only imagine what it's like to," he bit his tongue. Should he be bringing this up? It felt right to say, but regret settled as soon as his thoughts turned to words. He a moment to consider, "... to lose your Master,"

And wake up to see the face of his murderer.

Bernard flinched in thought. The words were unspoken, but they hung above him like a sword held by a thin thread of mercy, its judgement ready to be cast at any moment. He shifted in his seat and glanced reflexively at the Padawan's hair.

"Your braid. It's gone?" He kicked himself mentally. Did he seem to be avoiding the bantha in the room by asking this now?

Shimrra Rin​

 

[Shimrra Rin]

The words caused her to flinch again, the scab on her heart opening up again. She smiled instead and ran a hand over the long braid fondly as if it were a pet nexu cub.

"Yes," she said softly. "Master Dawnstar came to me in my final vision," she refused to call those dreams that she had suffered through, "He told me that I had everything I needed and knighted me." She looked up at Bernard sheepishly, the embarrassment clear by the darkened blues around her cheeks.

"N-not to say a living Master shouldn't be the one to do it, I just thought-" It didn't matter what she thought. She looked back down at the braid solemnly.

"Anyways, what brings you here?"

Bernard of Arca

 

[Bernard of Arca]

Bernard's eyebrows rose up in surprised curves for a moment. Knighted from beyond the grave. His surprise turned to remorse. What a terrible way for the ceremony to occur.

He glanced down and away from Shimrra. Was it appropriate for him to congratulate her on the ascension to knighthood? Could he even do it? Questions. There was a question asked of him. His eyes returned to the Padawan-now-Knight, but he remained absent as he replayed their conversation in his head. He found the thread again after a moment.

"Oh, yes. I...suppose, given your visions, my coming here became redundant. I...wanted to be the one to tell you about...what had happened," he spoke with a quieter, but measured, tone.

Shimrra Rin​

 

[Shimrra Rin]

A soft smile curved the young Yuuzhan Vong's thin lips, a true gesture of warmth. She gestured for Bernard to sit.

"My master just beat you to it, though I appreciate the gesture." Her smile turned slowly into a frown. "Is Kaito still..." she let the sentence trail off, a sense of cold and foreboding falling on her like a frozen weight on her narrow shoulders. Amon looked alert too. Something dark was coming. For a moment, a small part of her, a part of her that she cursed, thought Bernard had brought it to finish the job. But the feelings she felt from the young man were too open to her for that to be the case. Her eyes narrowed and her muscles tensed as she prepared herself to move...

R o o t
​

Liu Ping had never in his wildest dreams thought he would be a killer. Once upon a time he had been just a kid playing limmie in the wrong neighborhood on Corellia at the wrong time. Docs had said his MC Count was high for a kid his age but not enough for the Green Jedi to take notice, especially not from a slum like Gold Sector 5th Street. But then one day Liu didn't come home.

Now, Liu only vaguely remembered his own name, like when you remember the vague colors used to represent a character on a holovision Taungsday morning cartoon you watched as a kid, but you can't remember their name or even if they were important or not. Thats what the last decade had done to him and the eight others that ran with him, leaping from balcony to ledge as they traversed the Jedi temple's outer edges. There was no way they'd survive fighting the Jedi Temple guards or Page droid sentries that roamed the halls, but the medical center wing as detached, only slightly, from the main temple. It could be reached from the outside, which in Liu's estimation was a horrible design flaw.

The security here was much more lax, a few Jedi padawans, a few doctors, only a single Page droid. They were all eliminated and by the time the eight Root assassins had made their way to the target their red and white uniforms were splattered with blood making their hoodies to look as if it had some sort of intricate red camouflage pattern. Lie did not say anything as he entered the room of one Shimrra Rin. Maou had made it clear exactly what was to happen to any who got in their way, even the young, impressionable Bernard of Arca .

​

He flashed his sword and lunged at Bernard, three others filing in behind him and attacking the target, still in bed. The other four he knew were just outside, in case they failed. Liu would not fail, for f he did, the horrors which his master would impart upon him would make him wish he were dead, more than he already did every day he woke.

Every day he woke up a cold-hearted killer.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

Katana Zero​

"Senator Kaito sur-" the door's quiet burst of air behind him nearly startled him.

Bernard turned, expecting a late visit from the Master, but found masked figures in crimson hoodies instead.

"Who...?" His question trailed off.

The glint of metal drew his glance down to the blades they carried. A heartbeat passed, and the room erupted into chaos.

Bernard went for his blaster first, drawing it in time to raise it at his assailant, but the man was faster. His blade flashed against the moonlight as it traced a path through the blaster's barrel before Bernard had the chance to pull the trigger.

The durasteel sparked and half the gun went flying. The attacker immediately followed with two swift steps that brought him within an arm's length of the Marshal. He flourished his blade in a smooth arc that transitioned the momentum of his last swing into a swift thrust.

Bernard pivoted on his feet awkwardly, not enough to fully escape the blade. Steel dug into the skin just above his hip, shooting a burning sensation through his body. He hadn't had the time to assume any combat-ready stance and now fumbled backwards towards the room's centre, clutching his side.

The assailant didn't let up, however, another swing came for the Marshal before he even had the time to recover, prompting him to skip back a step to avoid a fatal blow. With the gained space, Bernard acted quickly to get his footing right. When Liu didn't relent with his assault, he was prepared, stepping nimbly just out of reach of every swing. Practised dodges and subtle manoeuvres spared him from further wounds. Still, each attack forced him to give up the tactical advantage, losing ground until he was cornered, back against the wall. At this pace, the inevitable was only being delayed.

Liu didn't waste any time on theatrics, it was clear he'd come with a single-minded determination to see the mission through. Not a beat was skipped before he thrust his blade at Bernard again. The Marshal shifted to the side, thrust puncturing the wall just next to his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw white hair fall. Liu turned the blade, plasma edges vaporizing the durasteel until they aligned with Bernard's neck. Bernard's eyes locked with the crimson visor of his assailant. Then he swung.

The Marshal ducked low, in time for the blade to trail above his head cutting only durasteel. As he dropped, he slid one foot forward, using the momentum to shift his weight forward and springboard off the ground with one fist raised and aiming right for Liu's jaw.

Shimrra Rin ​

 

[Shimrra Rin]

A T T A C K E D
Bernard of Arca
​

The Force swelled inside her, filling her body with vitality. Her lightsaber was gone, stored away with her other personal effects, but a blade was not a Jedi's only weapon, let alone a trained Vong's. To a Vong, the amphistaff was not just their most important ally, but their most deadly weapon. The white sheets of her bed flew into two of the charging assassins, catching them by surprise and wrapping around them like a magic carpet. The other two, not at all perturbed by their allies misfortune twirled and cartwheeled over the bumbling pair, blades ready to drain life from body. Shimrra flashed a hand sign and Amon's tail was coiled around her fist. With another the amphistaff hardened, its spiked hood suddenly becoming a dangerous spiked club.

Without hiss or complaint, the Vong creature clashed with the two bladed weapons of the Red-Clad assassins. They were stronger than she thought, or maybe years of being comatose had left her weaker than she initially expected. With three meters of staff and her training under her father and her Master she gracefully parried blow after blow. She wished she could spare a thought for Bernard, but in her withered state she was having difficulty even focusing on the two attackers, let alone Bernard's well-being.

CRACK

One of her strikes with Amon's spiked head made purchase, the spine shattering the white mask the assassin wore and crushing the eye beneath. The assassin screamed involuntarily, leaping back, but not before Amon's head became flacid and struck out violently with a streak of acid venom. The room was filled with a sickening smell, a mixture of melting plaster and rapidly dissolving flesh. This caused the other assassin to pause. THe break in combat gave her just enough time to see Bernard's attack connect, knocking one of the assassins to the floor.

The transparisteel shattered behind her as more joined in the fray.

"Bernard!" They were surrounded now, the two foolish assassins from earlier finally having cut through the tightly wound bedsheet. Only two assassins were down.

"Any ideas?" She said as the circle of warriors inched closer towards the pair.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

The force behind the punch lifted the assassin off his feet and sent him flying until he crashed right onto his back. A stiff crack added to the chaos of sound inside the small patient's room. Liu put his hand to his head and pushed onto one elbow. The vibroblade clattered to the floor next to him, embedded blade first.

Bernard didn't let up on his foe, however. He lunged at the man while he was on the ground, pushing him right back against the floor. With his target down, he aimed for a knock out punch. The sooner he was through with this one, the greater their chances for survival. He threw the fist. Liu's movements slowed, dazed from the blow to his head. He barely brought up his arms to deflect the knock-out punch Bernard threw in his direction.

Liu countered with his own strike at Bernard's ribs, but the Marshal shrugged it off in a haze of adrenaline. He threw a follow up strike from the side that knocked the assassin's head sideways. He struck again from the other side. The urge to strike again overcame him, but he leaned away, wary of being lost in the brutality.

Liu took advantage of this opportunity. The assassin brought his hands forward to push Bernard with the Force. An invisible wave pushed Bernard backwards, toppling him over. He was lifted off his knees, on a trajectory to stand upright.

About to lose his advantage, Bernard's scrambled for the hilt of the vibroblade. He caught the grip, blade dislodging from the duracrete floor in a smooth motion, and threw the blade directly at Liu.

The assassin had made the mistake of pressing his advantage too soon, oblivious to the blade as he tried to push himself upright. The sword caught him in the chest and pinned the man back against the floor.

Bernard took a moment to breathe, but Shimrra's voice over the sound of shattering transparisteel cut his break short.

"Bernard! Any ideas?"

He worked his way up to his feet again, withdrawing the vibroblade and flicking off the blood with a swift motion, and settled next to Shimrra. His stance was ready for battle, but he wasn't as firm on his feet as he'd been before. The stain on his side had deepened and grown darker.

"You're the one who still has the Force, call for help or throw them out that window or something," his words came strained and through hard breaths.

One of the assassins who had accompanied Liu made the first move, lunging towards the pair. Benard caught his blade and deflected it into the duracrete. The next one came at him from the side, hoping to skewer him with a jab, but Bernard hopped back to avoid the blow. He countered with a strike of his own that sought to sever the assassin's hand, but the man was too quick and withdrew just in time.

A lull settled in again after the brief exchange. Both sides sizing each other up.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he called over his shoulder.

Shimrra Rin ​

 

[Shimrra Rin]

Hadn't Bernard been a Jedi? Didn't he know it was no simple thing to just...Call for help? She had been asleep for five years. Five. Years. She hadn't built that sort of relationship with anyone since her master's death. She might as well scream. She was about to retort as much when several cloaked figures entered through the door and from the shattered window. Lightsabers activated with snap-hisses illuminating the room with a rainbow of colors. One of the Jedi stepped forward, tall and well-muscled even beneath her robes. Her blue lightsaber's hum seemed to drown out the others.

"By the power invested in me by this Galactic Alliance, stand down and turn yourselves in," came the powerful voice. The remaining assassins were now surrounded and closed ranks, pointing their weapons at the Jedi now instead of Bernard and Shimrra.

There was a moment of tense silence and then one of the assassins said something in Atrisian and moved as if to surrender. Then when the Jedi took a step forward to relieve the man of his weapon he turned it on himself, the other assassins doing the same. A spurt of blood splashed across Shibrra's nose, filling her senses with the smell of death and passion.

The Master cursed loudly, her anguish and frustration flooding the Force.

Bernard of Arca

 

[Bernard of Arca]

phew that was wrong